Since the moment I landed home in NYC for my annual holiday visit, all I could hear about from my mother was that I needed to try the Salted Caramel Pancakes from our neighborhood restaurant hot spot, The Smith located on 63rd and Broadway; however, there was one problem – I was getting all 4 wisdom teeth removed a few hours after I landed at JFK! While I wasn’t sure whether or not these pancakes would be worth all the motherly hype, one thing was for sure – the thought of dripping salted caramel over a bed of pancakes was enough to force me into an early recovery. Fortunately, I was in good paws and had the best healthcare:

After about seven days of yogurt, eggs, and occasional mac and cheese (I pretty much was only able to taste and swallow), you can imagine how my mouth watered with the thought of these legendary pancakes. Mistakenly, we visited The Smith after 12pm on Wednesday, and learned the hard way that you can *only order brunch before 11am.*

By Saturday, Christmas finally came and after a quick glance at the menu, stitches still intact, I ordered the food item that I had been hearing about for weeks.

The Salted Caramel Pancakes from The Smith were everything I had imagined, and more. The pancakes themselves were like heavenly pillows; if I could have placed those in my mouth after surgery, instead of the gauze, the recovery process would have been much more sweet and savory. The pancakes were so fluffy and delightful that I actually smiled (to the best of my ability) while eating. The touch of salted caramel to the already delectable delicacies created a pancake party in my healing mouth.

While I don’t care much for pecans, nor could I eat anything crunchy anyway, I did appreciate that The Smith placed the pecans on top of the pancakes, as opposed to in the batter. As I’m also not much of a whipped cream person, the, instead, whipped ricotta definitely made the dish more unique. At the end of our meal, I thought for sure my mom would smile with vindication, but she instead said concluded breakfast with “cute waiter!” Like mother like daughter I guess. Hours later, as I’m now getting ready for dinner, I’m still thinking about those pancakes, and while I do have more restaurants to try, these bad boys might just be my new favorite pancakes in NYC. Well mom, this is the only time that I won’t mind hearing “I told you so.”

While Victoria currently resides in Nashville with her husband Bob Locknar and their two fabulously talented daughters, Victoria also happens to be my parents’ neighbor! When in NYC for work (and sometimes for fun!), Victoria lives down the hall from my parents. Our families have spent a lot of time together, but the funniest memory I have with the Locknars (which wasn’t so funny at the time), was the night we had to stay at Victoria’s apartment due to construction in our apartment, while Victoria was simultaneously going into labor with Ruby. Needless to say, we’re not known for our timing!

When Victoria is home in Nashville, my family keeps an eye on her apartment, and as you can see from the photo below, she’s very appreciative (particularly in the “PS!”):

When Victoria and I finally got to sit down for pancakes, it was quite a treat! As The Flame is one of Victoria’s (as well as her daughters’, and my grandfather’s) favorite diners in New York, we went as a group on the last Friday of 2013.

To ring in 2014 with a healthy start, Victoria and I decided to split the Multi-Grain pancakes, served with fresh bananas and strawberries.

I have to say, for typical “Diner Pancakes,” these tasted pretty good, and surprisingly fresh. Victoria agreed, as she said “these are meaty, but not doughy.” Between the multi-grain batter, and the deliciousness of the bananas and strawberries, we definitely felt like we were eating a healthier breakfast – not something you can frequently say for a diner! “I’m not really a pancake snob,” said Victoria (ahem, like some people!), “but these taste like my mom’s kitchen comfort food – that is, if my mom cooked!” Well, maybe after that comment she’ll start cooking! When asking Victoria which pancakes she would order next time, her reply was “Whole Wheat.” Keeping it healthy, I like it!

Thanks so much Victoria, for being a part of Friday brunch with Ma’amCakes! Be sure to check out Victoria’s latest artist whom she’s taking under her wing, singer Lacy Cavalier.

On Sunday I took my friend Kathleen’s advice, and went to Ditch Plains on 82nd between Columbus and Amsterdam in New York City (that “between” makes a huge difference when you and your friend are wandering down Columbus Ave in 19-degree weather). After my unfortunate experience with Sarabeth’s on Wednesday, I was hoping to leave my trip to NYC on a positive note- and fortunately, I did!

While the menu is somewhat lacking in pancake options, unlike Sarabeth’s these choices are actually enticing. As a fan of red velvet cupcakes, I decided to give the Red Velvet Pancakes a whirl.

This stack of three red velvet pancakes was actually quite delectable. The powdered sugar combined with the cup-size scoop of the cream cheese topping was the perfect addition to this tasty meal.

What I found interesting about this dish from Ditch Plains was the Red Velvet Pancakes actually tasted more like red velvet cake. The reason this notion is not necessarily negative is because you don’t feel sick to your stomach once completing your breakfast. The pancakes taste more like light and airy cake, verses (what can often be) heavy and greasy pancakes. Because of this concept, I was able to finish everything on my plate, leaving only a smile behind.

It should be noted the pancakes are ONLY an option on Saturdays and Sundays. At the end of the meal, the check came in a glass with salt-water taffy; this is actually something I have never seen, but what a lovely touch! This meal ended up costing $2 less than Sarabeth’s, and tasted one hundred times better. Overall, Ditch Plains was a wonderful restaurant to end my trip to NYC. Perhaps the headline of the restaurant should read “Ditch Sarabeth’s.”

While visiting family and friends in New York City this week, I decided to review pancakes at Sarabeth’s on Central Park South. Having gone to Sarabeth’s several times over the years -mainly for dinner – I figured it would be a great stop for my first NYC pancake review. Well, unfortunately, I was wrong.

Sarabeth’s is officially my first review of disappointing pancakes. While the menu itself has cute names for dishes, including the “Baby Bear,” “Mama Bear,” and “Papa Bear,” the creativity with its pancakes is for sure lacking.

If you’re only going to have two types of pancakes, both options HAVE to be amazing. While the buttermilk pancakes looked pretty, their taste was abysmal.

If I were blindfolded and had Eggo pancakes on one side, and Sarabeth’s pancakes on the other, it’s unfortunate to say that I wouldn’t be able to tell them apart. If you’re going to spend $15 for a pancake-breakfast, by no means should the food taste microwavable. Now, only because I’ve had dinner at Sarabeth’s, I do not actually believe these are microwaveable pancakes – but they sure taste like ’em. There was no creativity whatsoever in this dish, except for the way they were stacked on the plate. My only positive comment is the strawberries tasted exceptionally fresh.

And while this is not in reference to the pancakes, I found the staff to be quite stand-offish and snooty. Sarabeth’s: my advice is to be a bit nicer to patrons paying these prices for underwhelming meals, and skip the sanctimonious attitude towards the girl who grew up down the street from your Central Park South location, and is blogging about your services.

All in all this is, unfortunately, a pancake breakfast you can skip – unless of course you crave the memory of ready-made pancakes back from when you were a kid running late for the bus.